Diaphragm for electrolytic cells



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

ERNEST ARTHUR LE SUEUR, OF OTTAVA, CANADA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CHARLES N. WAITE, OF NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

DIAPHRAGM FOR ELECTROLYTIGCELLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 455,451, dated July '7, 1891,.

Application filed June 9, 1890. Serial No. 354,821. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST ARTHUR LE SUEUR, of Ottawa, Province of Ontario, Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new 5 and useful Improvements in Diaphragms for Electrolytic Cells, of which the following is a specification.

My improved diaphragm is designed more particularly for electrolytic cells; but I do not desire to limit it to that use.

- The object of my invention" is to obtain a durable diaphragm of low resistance; and it consists in the diaphragm of the kind hereinafter described, and which is referred to in I the claims which are appended hereto and made a part hereof. My diaphragm consists, substantially, of a layer, sheet, or film of albumen, and it will be fully understood from the following description of the way in which it is made. It is preferably made as follows: I take one pound of albumen, preferably the commercial article known as blood albumen, (although any kind of albumen may be used,) and dissolve it in two pounds of water, the water being of an ordinary temperature, or not warmer than 100 Fahrenheit. The solution thus obtained is of the consistency of a thick sirup, and for the purpose of clearing it from lumps and foreign substances it is preferably strained through coarse cotton cloth or other suitable strainer. It is not essential to strain the solution, but it is desirable to do so. 3 5 condition to a sheet of materialas paper, for example-by either immersing the paper in the albumen solution and allowing the surplus albumen which adheres to the paper after the paper is taken out of the solution to drain off or by spreading the solution onto the paper in any suitable manner-as, for example, by means of a brush. The albumen may be applied to one side of the paper only. After being thus treated the paper which has been 4 5 covered with the albumen is preferablydried at an ordinary temperature, and then subjected to a degree of heat sufficient to coagulate the albumen. Should it be desirable to quicken the operation, the paper coated with albumen 50 maybe subjected to a gradually-increasing heat, which is finally raised to, say, 240 Fahr- I apply the albumen in this enheit. The resultin either case is the same-viz., the albumen is first dried and then coagulated. I consider it desirable to expose the albumen to thehigher degree of heat necessary to coagulate it for about half an hour, after which the diaphragm is ready for use.

The essential feature of m'yinvention is the film orlayer of albumen,the sheet of material employed being more particularly for the pur- 6o pose of supporting and strengthening the albumen layer, and being really a form on which the albumen layer is made. The above method of construction, therefore, may be varied by employing sheets of other material in place of paperas, for example, animal or vegetable parchment, bibulous paper, woven or felted fabric, asbestus sheets, or leather. Two sheets of the material employed may be used, one side of each sheet being coated with the album en, and the two sides thus coated being laid together, forming a diaphragm consisting of a layer of paper or equivalent material on either surface with an interposed layer of albumen.

As albumen when dried and coagulated has considerable strength, the diaphragm may be made without the use of the supporting'or strengthening material by forming in any manner a sheet or layer composed of the'al- 8o bumen only; or such an albumen layer may be slightly strengthened by placing fibers or threads therein-as pieces of cotton thread, for example.

It is also to be noted that my diaphragm admits of being varied in construction to suit particular circumstances-that is, one side of it may be albumen and adapted to withstand chlorine, for example, in an electrolytic cell, while the other side may be of a material 0 adapted more especially to withstand the alkaline solution to which it is exposed. Mydiaphragm is particularly adapted for use in electrolytic cells designed for the decomposition of the alkaline chlorides, since the alkali 9 5 does not readily attack the albumen in the presence of chlorine, and thus an inexpensive, durable diaphragm of low resistance is atforded for this purpose.

What I claim is- 1. A diaphragm for an electrolytic cell, consisting of a layer, sheet, or film of dried and co- TOO agulatcd albumen, substantially as shown and described.

2. A diaphragm for an electrolytic cell, consisting of a layer, sheet, or film of dried and c0- 5 agulated albumen, combined with a sheet of supporting and strengthening material, sub stantially as shown and described.

3. The process of making a diaphragm for an electrolytic cell, consisting in first drying a layer, sheet, or film of albumen and then 10 coagulating it by heat, substantially as shown and described.

ERNEST ARTHUR LE SUEUR. Vitnesses:

WM. A. MAoLnoD, ROBERT WALLACE. 

